Apple, a 2024 full of pitfalls for services

Apple's 2024 opens with a number of unknowns. The company with the world's largest market capitalisation ($2.99 trillion) will have to face several legal disputes (both in the US and Europe) that could undermine part of its services business, an activity that currently earns the Cupertino company $85 billion a year.

The biggest - and perhaps most imminent - blow is hidden in the lawsuit brought by the US antitrust authority against Google. It is a case in which it emerged that Big G paid $26 billion into Apple's coffers in 2021 to make its search engine the default search engine on iPhones and various Apple devices. If Google loses this lawsuit, it may be forced to suspend this payment. And this could heavily affect the annual revenue of Apple's 'Services' division. About a quarter, according to analyst Eric Seufert, quoted by the Financial Times.

Clearly, this ruling is also highly anticipated at Google, because if the antitrust ruled, the search engine on more than 1 billion devices worldwide would no longer automatically be Mountain View's.

But that is not the end of the story. 2024 will also be the year in which Apple will face increasing scrutiny from the Biden administration over concerns about the dominance of its App Store. The App Store that will suffer major consequences especially in Europe, where with the arrival of new regulations to rein in Big Tech, a fiery year lies ahead. In fact, Europe wants Apple on iOS (but also Google on Android) to no longer impose the use of the App Store, but leave room for third-party app 'shops'. In the EU, in essence, Apple is preparing to allow so-called 'sideloading', which allows iPhone users to bypass its store and download apps from other stores.

It will be quite a battle, considering that according to Sensor Tower's estimates, Apple earns between $6 billion and $7 billion in commissions from the App Store globally each quarter: an absolutely thriving business.